Saturday, June 4, 2016

Greetings, Fellow Grognards!

Howard Pyle

In my younger days, I spent many hours with my nose in game books of various kinds, creating characters, planning games, and sketching maps. I derived no small amount of joy from the creative processes involved when participating in table top role playing games. Through this activity, I could assume the role of a hero on par with characters from beloved boyhood legends, such as King Arthur, Robin Hood, Merlin, Gandalf, Bilbo, Frodo, Aragorn, Conan, Elric, and so many others. Or, even more enticingly, I could take on a role that allowed me to share my creative vision almost in the way my favorite authors shared theirs with me.

I could be the Dungeon Master!

When computer gaming became more sophisticated, it seemed that our beloved old hobby of gathering around the table to chuck dice at each other was in mortal danger. Instead of sitting face-to-face, it seemed that logging on to join expansive MMOs was the future of role playing. I was glad to be one of the people to jump into this new way to game, but something was always missing. There were things the computer just could not provide, even when connected to hundreds of other players online. There were always places I could not go and things I could not interact with. The games just felt too restrictive to me.

And so I am very happy to find that Advanced Dungeons & Dragons is living on with a strong online fan base dedicated to running, playing, and providing new content for Old School Roleplaying campaigns. I've become intrigued by the vast wealth of material out there from various websites, blogs, and Facebook groups. I run a group myself called Masters of the Games where Game Masters can exchange ideas about running campaigns, writing modules, and building worlds for their players to explore. While any game is welcome in my group, I tend to concentrate mostly on Advanced Dungeons & Dragons and OSRIC for my part. Also, I am a member of several game-oriented groups that have been instrumental in reviving my love of table top role playing games, especially in the AD&D and OSR/OSRIC vein. I have begun piecing many of my old characters, settings, and other ideas into a new campaign, complete with an entire world called Hyraeth. I intend to share these concoctions with any and all who care to partake of them.

So with this first entry, allow me to welcome you, fellow fantasy aficionado, to my little realm on the web! Together we shall endeavor to explore bright shining kingdoms, dark brooding lands, and forgotten lore.

I was amazed and delighted to learn from your article that AD&D has had new content added to it by its fans. I'm curious to see what that content is. It was always a dream of mine to mash AD&D with Gamma World.